What Does .Com Mean?

It has gradually become so common to hear the words ".com" that many of us do not even wonder what exactly it stands for. It all started with the U.S. government and a military plan, but it has since taken on a life of its own.

Meaning

• Plain and simple, when you see .com in a web address, it means commercial. Website address endings such as .com, .gov or .org are variously referred to as a "suffix" or an extension to the domain name. For instance, "www.whitehouse.gov" refers to the domain whitehouse.gov, and the suffix .gov lets you know it is a governmental website. The most common suffix is .com.

History

• Originally, the Internet was a U.S. Department of Defense project. Explains The Straight Dope: "The DoD wanted the net to remain usable in wartime, even if major portions of it were destroyed. The solution was to keep it decentralized." To do so, bits and pieces of the World Wide Web (the origin of the "www" before the name and suffix) are housed in various computers. Not only can the Internet not be lost this way, but it also makes registration --- the assigning of Internet addresses --- easier.

How It Works

• The extension .com is a "top level" domain, in contrast to the particular Web address, which is a "subdomain." Each top-level domain (.gov, .edu, .com, .org and others) has "registrars" who assign new Web addresses. While some domains are restricted --- for instance, you must be an accredited four-year university to obtain an .edu address --- others such as .com are generic that anyone can get.